To Park Hop, or not to Park Hop?

[pdrlkr]

We are always park hoppers!

[joonyer]

Hoppity hop hop and then some! We always park hop, sometimes several times a day. But we only started doing this after we had visited WDW several times and gotten to know the parks and exactly what we wanted to do, and when. We didn't hop so much on our first couple of visits.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

My wife and I have purchased park hoppers for both of our trips. On our first 7-day trip, we never hopped. On our 5-day trip, I think we hopped once from AK to MK, but I'm not even sure we did that.

We were always so scared of being forced to stay at one park, that we bought the hoppers. Since I have become an Intercot junkie, I have realized that we can NOT buy the hoppers, save $50 each, and if the mood hits us to hop, we can easily upgrade the tickets then.

As long as the trip is more than 4 days, that will be our plan.

PS: We made the same mistake on our first trip with the No Expiration option. I had three family members very ill, and purchased the No Expiration option because I was afraid of having to leave early for a death in the family. I now realized that I can NOT buy the No Expiration option, then if I have to leave early, I can upgrade the ticket at the front desk before I leave (if the number crunching says the cost would be worth it.)

[bkfree]

We also park hop, if for no other reason than for eating access.
We tend to eat lots of meals at World Showcase and could not do that without the Hoppers.
We tend to eat almost no meals, if we can help it at MK. Other than Crystal Palace.

We like to have the option of skipping out on one and heading to another. We also like to Do EMH then head to another park , either after or before.

Not having Hoppers would take some of the spontaniety out of the trip, not to mention many great dining chances.

[mainemajor]

For us we hop most days. It really depends on how we feel, the weather, diner reservations or special events going on at the parks. The only trips that I have not hopped were before there was an option. We will often head back to our hotel, DTD or another resort relax, explore and then hit the parks again. We don't want to be tied to just one park - one day.

[Tbelle1976]

Just having the option to park hop is worth it for me, but yes, we always use the option. If we get to one park in the morning and it gets too busy, we will hop to another after having a break.

[Tink#64]

We did not purchase the hopper option this year & we really missed it! We planned a very last minute trip for spring break & trying to cut every corner we could I figured we could pass on the hopping & wouldn't really miss it! Well we missed it! We had a great vacation, but found ourselves wishing we had that flexibility! We typically visit one park in the AM & take our break back at the resort & spend our evening in a different park. I will definitely spend the extra to have that freedom for our next trip!

[Mad About Mickey]

We always get the park hopper option. We usually spend whole days at MK and Epcot and then will hop after AK & DHS days. Our older kids also have the option of going off to do something at another park while we are doing rides with the younger ones. We would never go back to life without hopping .

[RBrooksC]

My family loves to park hop. We usually don't park hop the day we go to MK since I love to take my time there. But Epoct, I will do Future World and maybe MGM or AK the same day. Then World Showcase and MGM or AK another day. Then MGM for 1/2 a day and maybe another park another 1/2 day depending on our time there and what we have planned.

Sometimes we park hop because of dinner reservations. Last time it was fun planning the trip trying to figure out the best way to visit the parks with our convoluted dining options.

[GrmGrninGost]

We don't park hop just for the sake of park hopping. We use it to extend our hours in the parks. We usually go somewhere else after AK closes for instance. We may go to Epcot one day, then go that evening to MK for EMH. We also use it for dining. We like a lot of the restaurants at Epcot, but we don't want to spend every day there. So, we go to another park, then go to Epcot for dinner.

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

We park hop every day, winding up at MK just about every night. Walking down Main Street with the lights on, and watching the fireworks..it just doesn't get any better.

[lightyearfan]

well when me and dw go on our long summer trips we park hop allot, on our long weekend trips we just stay at the park that we tend to visit for that day.

Victor

[CU Tiger]

I feel we waste too much time traveling from one park to another. Unless we are doing AK in half of a day and continuing to MGM, we like to take our time and do one park at a time.

[sdewan]

We don't park hop just for the sake of park hopping. ... We also use it for dining. We like a lot of the restaurants at Epcot, but we don't want to spend every day there. So, we go to another park, then go to Epcot for dinner.

Ditto. There are days when we go to EPCOT all morning, come back for dinner and stay until closing. But most days it just fits into our plans better to visit two different parks.

Two additional reasons we park hop are:

1) frequently we stay at an EPCOT resort, and sometimes we'll take the monorail from MK to EPCOT, and then walk back to our resort through EPCOT.

2) Early Admission days are great - for the first two hours or so. Then it can get super-crowded at that park, which makes it a good time to head to a different park.

[elmjimmlm]

We usually hop 2x a day...

[princessgirls]

I love the hopping option, and get it when booking a package. I didn't do the hopping in 2007 when we stayed in the "time share" at Bonnet Creek. It was going to be an extra $180 for my family and we were only getting a 5 day ticket, with the one day just using it for a few hours at night. We figured one park a day for this trip.
The Time-Share was my most expensive trip to Disney ever! We were invited to stay with friends and we discovered that the "free accomodations" cost us a fortune!
Beware of the timeshare I always say...
Julie

[chrisb26]

We rarely stay at only one park for the entire day. We've been so many times that we know where everything is and what we want to do. So we don't really need to stay at only one park the entire day.

Some parks its also difficult for us to stay at the same place the entire day. For example DHS it really isn't a full day park for us especially now with them closing certain attractions early and not having Fantasmic every night it would be difficult to stay there all day.

Park hopper is also a very good thing if you do decide to stay for a longer trip that way you can go back and do different things that you missed out on or wanted to do again.

[wedway76]

We park hop all the time!

Early in our trip we are more likely to spend the entire day at one park, however later in the trip we may head back to one park to ride something or see a show we missed.

As others have said we often hop for dinner and then we usually spend the evening in the park where we ate.

Then of course there is the day that we go to Animal Kingdom! What are we supposed to do with the rest of the day if we didn’t have Park Hoppers?

[kemps@wdw]

Park-hopping is a given for us! We have always been a 2-park-a-day family. This gives us a opportunity to do EVERYTHING we want to do, but not necessarily in one day. And we can have down time @ our resort between parks for pool action or naps (if needed).

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I just love having the option, and really utilize the hopping, on EMH evenings. We like to take a mid day break, then head out to dinner then onto the EMH park for the evening. The freedom is great!

We like having the option, too. To me the freedom really makes it feel like a vacation. It makes it possible to make ADR's, and yet still have the days open to impulse.